Building Tension & Dread in Horror - Advice

[wh_vigo]

Hi All,

Seeking tips and tricks/feedback on how to effectively build tension and dread in horror novels.

I'm writing on an anthology that explores relationship dynamics by merging the uncanny with the horrific. I would like to talk about how to improve my ability to create suspense and dread through the use of horror (revulsion/digested fear) and terror (intense fear). My work does not contain "shock factor" or gratuitous violence.

Edit - Brief Summary: Forlorn lovers, undead exes, cursed divorces, and abominations from the abyss. These terrors and more twist together in this haunting anthology of heartbreak, love, death, and triumph. 50 Shades Deeper explores relationship dynamics by merging the uncanny with the horrific. In each unique story, characters must contend against their inner-most fears and supernatural forces for love--and their life.

Thanks in advance.

[33rdCenturyCaveman]

All my ex had to say was, "We need to talk."

[wh_vigo]

"We Need to Talk" is actually the name of my first chapter! It's here if you (or anyone else) is interested.

[Eskhar]

As a big reader of horror stories, I find a sudden change in view angles very effective in building a feeling of weirdness. Fish-eye perspective for example, or unstable horizon when everything seemed pretty normal before. Or an angle that always keeps something hiding (for example a character we can't see the face, but everything around and how people react) that makes you crave to see better, and build anticipation, even if basically, you know more or less what you'll see.

As for pure terror, nothing works like turbomedia inserted in a comic. When you're so used to the static pannels, having a sudden movement or sound is just the worst nightmare @____@
But as a fellow comic artist, I must admit I wouldn't know how to do that sort of thing. Maybe ther's a special software ?

EDIT : Ow, sorry, I thought you were making a comic !
I'm also a huge reader of horror novels, but I did not analyze enough my reading to be able to give any advice... But I rarely feel pure terror or intense fear when reading.
More when I read short stories than long novels, that's for sure, as tension is easier to build in a short span of time.

[KRWright]

Playing with tension is important when creating horror in novels. Allowing the audience to sigh in relief, before throwing the horror and tension back into the fray keeps the reader on their toes. Looking at sentence construction and sentence length, the use of all the senses to slow everything down, and then creating sudden tension by varying the sentence length, can get an audience's heart racing.

Another thing that people often make a mistake with in horror is that they don't make the stakes obvious enough. In order to build mystery or 'fear of the unknown', writers forget to really make clear what will happen to the characters if they fail. A good way to build tension is to make sure that this is hyper clear to the reader, so that every mistake that the characters make brings them closer to the failure state - which should be catastrophic in nature.

[wh_vigo]

This is wonderful advice! Thank you for your time and feedback, I look forward to exercising this technique writing my next chapter.

[rajillustration]

My favorite horror uses places and things that are ordinary and quiet but twists them around with a forwarning that something terrible will happen. Like in the The Ring you have a completely normal VCR tape, but in that week that you're waiting for the death to come, the tension builds more and more. In Psycho you have a completely normal motel that you'd see anywhere, but you have tension because someone was murdered in the beginning, and you know it's coming, but you have only hints and peeks that there is something terrible underneath this very boring motel facade.

I recently watched Langoliers (which is so silly and campy because it's a victim of 90's technology) but the horror aspect is really good at first because you have a completely normal routine plane flight, and then just...most of the flight vanishes while part of the crew is asleep and only leaves behind hairpieces and watches. As we learn they also left behind pace makers and dental fixings, we start to realize there's something sinister out there underneath the cloud cover despite absolutely no monsters on screen until the latter part of the movie (which kind of ruined the suspense but youknow).

[wh_vigo]

This is great! Thank you for being so thorough.

[inkmadnes]

Any advice for creating tension or dread in a comic?
I´m some of the new blood in the horror genre in comics, so really looking for some advice.

I´ ll leave my comic down, so you can see all the help that I need, really looking to be a pro.
Thanks to all of you for your time.

Icecream | Tapas

[inkmadnes]

What will be your take in psychological horror?
As I see it how can you make something in your head and make that twist to something terrible?